On November 4, 2012, an advertisement inviting me to an exhibition on the history of the Palestinian people, from the Nakba (catastrophe in Arabic, beginning of the Palestinian exile), caught my eye. The text refers to an exhibition on the creation of the State of Israel from 1948 to the present day. Why not go? The comments below the photos left me speechless! In short, their message questioned the UN vote of November 29, 1947. The texts were accompanied by impressive images of Jews arriving en masse in Palestine on British ships. These transports were organized by European states to ease their conscience after the Holocaust. Jewish hordes launch attacks on peaceful Palestinian villages; 500 villages are destroyed and 750,000 Palestinians are forced to flee ethnic cleansing in Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, and Lebanon. All this violence and barbarism takes place with the complacency of UN agencies and Western powers. In short, the Jews became the executioners and subjected the Palestinians to the same treatment they had suffered in Europe under the Nazi regime. Today, six million Palestinians are waiting for justice to be done, for the nations to give them a country, a Palestine cleansed of Israelis. This is perplexing. Does this message correspond to a minimum of historical truth?
I realize that very little is known about the history of the Middle East. Yet this region of the world is mentioned every day in our media. For those who follow the political news from the countries in this region closely, the situation does not seem to be calming down. Why is this? The history and context in which the Jews established their nation are unknown, deliberately ignored. There are so many political and, above all, financial issues at stake that we must guard against the falsification of history. Certain authorities are determined to maintain revisionism at all costs. Otherwise, what would become of the billions of dollars paid by the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees)? When he died, President Yasser Arafat had the largest private fortune of any head of state of his time. Why? Being president of a starving and uneducated people pays off big time! And the multi-billionaire Khaled Meshaal, former mayor of Gaza, would not say otherwise. As long as society accepts paying money into accounts where 70% of the sum disappears without a trace, without establishing whether the objectives have been achieved, there will be no reform. But is that a reason not to tell the truth? No, absolutely not!
Too often singled out for criticism, the Israeli authorities are forced to justify themselves because the world forgets reality, and therefore the truth. Numerous UN condemnations concern the young nation, which is nevertheless a genuine democracy, the only one in the Middle East. Why? Israeli Arabs sit alongside other members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) with identical rights. This does not prevent the dictators of Hamas from being listened to, their messages widely published in the media. In contrast, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arguments are discussed, analyzed, and interpreted with malice, even to the point of slander. Once again: why? But in fact, do the authorities of the nations know the history of Israel and the aspirations of the Jews? Don’t the latter simply want to live freely and according to the values of the Torah? Is historical truth important in the context of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations? Why do UN politicians feel they are not making progress on this issue? Are there events in the past that are blocking the negotiations? Realities of the past that have been deliberately forgotten and kept silent? Could we talk about a muzzled truth?
The truth implies the actions of all actors. There is one that is censored in Western society, kept out of cultural life, never subsidized, considered obsolete. Those who talk about it are seen as obstacles to progress, stuck in their preconceived and antediluvian ideas. And yet, the Bible contains prophecies that are clearer than any predictions made by Confucius, George Orwell, Madame Soleil, or any other soothsayer. Anyone who wants to understand what is happening in the Middle East will be amazed to discover that centuries ago, men were inspired by the Spirit of the Creator and eternal God, who is also called the God of Israel. These writers passed on words of wisdom, but also information so precise that any doubt about chance is instantly swept away. For example, 2,800 years ago, Isaiah wrote: Who are these that fly like doves to their windows? Isaiah 60:8 What a beautiful image to announce that the majority of Jews would return to their country by plane.
Initial contacts
During my military service in 1976, one event made a particular impression on me. My comrades and I watched the film Raid on Entebbe. The military action was effective and daring, carried out by courageous men of exceptional bravery. Who were these people? Supermen? Fanatics? They came from different countries, spoke different languages, and had one country in common: Israel.
My heart burned for this country; I had to visit it. When I told my mother, she spontaneously burst into tears: “My son, I did not give birth to you so that you could go and die there. Israel, land of attacks, violence, wars, and terrorism. Why do you want to go there? Besides, we are not Jewish!”
I wanted to discover this nation, made up of people from 123 countries around the world. How could they live together? What was their common bond? The Bible often refers to the children of Israel, but they had been scattered throughout the world for almost two thousand years.
Speakers, pastors, and doctors of theology spoke lovingly about this country unlike any other. Some referred to fulfilled biblical prophecies. Others welcomed the cultivation of the desert, while others noted that the ruins of ancient cities had been rebuilt.
Penniless, I asked a Jewish volunteer agency about the conditions for admission to a kibbutz. Precision mechanics (my training) were rare and highly sought after. For a three-month commitment, six hours of work per day, my round-trip ticket was paid for by the kibbutz, plus pocket money and various excursions throughout Israel. Without hesitation, I signed up for this short period abroad.
At the kibbutz
January 1977, the welcome in Upper Galilee was warm. I traveled from Lod International Airport to the agricultural kibbutz of Hulata in a sheep transport vehicle, sitting on bales of hay. I felt very comfortable, ready to discover life in a completely unknown land. I looked everywhere for the Golan Heights, close to my kibbutz. I remember my disappointment when Aaron, the volunteer coordinator, said to me, “But they’re right there, in front of you.” For me, accustomed to the Alps, these mountains were barely hills.
The second disappointment: the Jordan River. According to my map, between the Golan Heights and the kibbutz flowed Israel’s largest river, the one whose flow had stopped to allow the people to enter the Promised Land. A friend and I walked to the bottom of the Golan Heights and back, then studied the maps at our disposal again and came to the conclusion that that tiny, unsanitary river we had crossed must indeed be the famous Jordan! Now I understood the reaction of the officer of the king of Syria who had come to seek healing from the prophet Elijah… Are not the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? 2
My work in the kibbutz technical workshop was supervised by Mackee. He spoke Hebrew, English, and German. He had managed to flee Germany without his parents in 1938 and arrived in Israel at the age of thirteen in 1939. He was the only survivor of his family. He told me he had been very lucky. Deep down, I thought he was a poor guy, an orphan who had had to flee without his parents. What a shock! It was my first contact with a strange world. I felt a little uncomfortable. I hadn’t imagined Jews to be like that.
Next to the workshop, a simple man was working. He always did the same job, separating aluminum from metal. He had a magnet that attracted iron, while the aluminum remained on the ground, was swept up, and put into another container. Pavel wasn’t talkative, resting from time to time on a stool, his gaze lost in the distance. I tried to talk to him in English, French, and German. He smiled kindly at me and continued his work. It was impossible to communicate with this man. In the evening, the volunteers would talk about our experiences during the day. Surprisingly, I wasn’t the only one confronted with these kind of gentle zombies, whose psyches were severely damaged. On the one hand, they frightened us, on the other, they aroused pity; they made us all uncomfortable.
The next day, I asked Mackee how I could address Pavel. He only speaks Polish. As a child, he survived in the latrines at Auschwitz. It seems that his father was shot before his eyes. As for his mother, when she realized that the barracks were going to be gassed, she told him to hide in the latrines. Pavel was making progress when he arrived at the kibbutz. But now his mental state has been stagnant for many years. With what he has been through, suffering has saturated and blocked his perception, even his entire personality. It is up to us to show understanding for his behavior, which is not surprising. But I believe he is happy in the kibbutz family. It is his only family; he has no one else in the world. I was stunned! What was this about surviving in latrines?
Another person made us feel very uncomfortable. Helena was very helpful and extremely kind to all the volunteers. She was like a mother to us in Israel, taking care of our health, our clothes, and organizing picnics during outings. She and her husband invited all the volunteers, in groups of three, to wonderful festive meals in their garden. The tattoo of a number on her arm raised many questions among the new arrivals. What could it mean? None of the volunteers had any idea. One day, one of us dared to ask her. It was her registration number at Buchenwald, where she had spent almost a year and a half, from the age of thirteen to fifteen. So abused and assaulted, she had become sterile. When she left the camp, she weighed half as much as a child of that age, I think it was 27 kilos!
Everyone I got to know had either a terrible past or a career as a combatant. But none of them complained; they all worked, and on Sabbath evenings, there was a party in the dining room. What I was experiencing had nothing to do with super soldiers. I was getting to know a people broken by suffering, scarred by immense wounds that healed very slowly. It was impossible to forget the tragedies they had experienced; the injustices and contempt they had suffered marked the minds of the survivors. But despite a memory burdened with countless injustices, these people tried to live life to the fullest and enjoy the joyful moments of life.
During my schooling, I had followed all my classes with interest, I was educated, I had studied history, including World War II, but I had never heard of Auschwitz, the Final Solution, or death camps. And here I was with them at the table, at work, at the pool. I was in for a rude awakening. Israel was completely different from what I had imagined.
Misunderstandings
Three decades have passed. I note that the Western world continues to take sides with the Palestinians, to the detriment of Israel. Further proof of this came on the evening of December 2012, when the presenter of the 7:30 p.m. news began with the words: Israel has attacked Gaza! Once again, I note that European attitudes have not changed. After a barrage of 400 missiles, “Israel retaliates” or “Israel defends itself” would have been more accurate.
The media convey such an unrealistic and negative image of Israel. It’s misinformation, as if we were living in a dictatorship. As for the Palestinians, they have carte blanche to carry out the worst terrorist atrocities. Our media always find arguments to justify the unjustifiable. In the Gaza Strip, public condemnation often replaces the courts. For example, dragging a so-called traitor to the cause, tied to a rope behind their moped, until death ensues. Where are the journalists to denounce this injustice? No observers to take offense! No television station to broadcast this despicable act! Only a Palestinian internet user proudly displays his video of Gaza on YouTube. Who benefits from this crime? Israel, my conscience is on alert.
And what is the Church’s place in relation to Israel? For many congregations, the Church replaces the Jewish people, according to what is written: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Some say that, as the people who killed Christ, they deserve what is happening to them. Others say that in every Palestinian refugee, in every suffering child, they see Christ suffering his agony. Someone assured me with unshakeable conviction that the text of Ezekiel 37 (the prophet taken to the valley of dry bones) concerned the Church, but absolutely not the Jews or Israel. Is this not forgetting that the authors of the Old and New Testaments were all Jews?
Has God truly rejected His people? Is Zionism a pernicious Jewish sect that must be fought? Should the State of Israel disappear under international pressure and leave the field open to the Palestinian nation?
In writing these pages, I am attempting to convey a brief account that will give readers a more or less complete picture of what is happening in the Middle East. In our media, much information is overlooked because it is considered unimportant. I believe that because of these shortcuts, which are exploited politically by many journalists, most people do not understand the issues at stake in Israel.
A half-truth is a complete lie! With his biased reporting and staged scenes of pseudo-violence, the all-powerful journalist Charles Enderlin of Antenne 2 has lost his credibility. The media deception has gone on for too long. For many years, pro-Palestinian media outlets have distorted the news, often reporting live from Jerusalem. Let’s be clear: every human life lost in this conflict is one too many, whether Palestinian or Israeli.
Through this book, I want to try to clarify everyone’s positions so that actions and reactions are accessible and understandable. I strive to balance the contributions of these political and spiritual texts, which have a direct influence on the current situation of the Israeli state and the Palestinian position.